Amazon's retail business will hire fewer people than it had initially planned for this year as it grapples with slowing growth and rising costs, Insider has learned.
Amazon's Worldwide Consumer team, which manages everything from the retail giant's marketplace and warehouses to delivery and logistics businesses, reduced its hiring target by 1,511 people this year, according to an internal email from late last month, reviewed by Insider. The number applies only to corporate employees, not the hourly warehouse workers, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It's unclear how big the reduction is relative to the division's total hiring target. But one team within the consumer organization is expecting to cut its hiring target by 7% this year, this person said.
Amazon's spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
"We fully understand that this is not ideal and the teams have to make some tough choices to prioritize within the limited resources," Gokul Dakshina, VP of finance and CFO for Amazon's North America consumer business, wrote in the email. "Please adjust your hiring ramp accordingly."
Dakshina said in the email that the reduction plan came after meeting with CEO Andy Jassy and CFO Brian Olsavsky. He added that he could "request additional investments" from retail chief Dave Clark "when the business accelerates" to reach certain growth targets.
The change in hiring plans is the latest sign of slowing growth for Amazon. The retail giant reported disappointing financial results last month that showed dwindling consumer demand and profit margins. Olsavsky, the CFO, said last month that Amazon over-expanded during the pandemic, leaving the company with excess capacity across its warehouses and workforce.
"We have too much space right now versus our demand patterns," Olsavsky said during a call with reporters last month.
Amazon is slowing its expansion in other areas, too. The company plans to significantly curb the growth of its third-party delivery partners this year, following a two-year ramp-up period, as Insider previously reported. After doubling the size of its fulfillment network since 2020, Amazon said last month it's "no longer chasing physical or staffing capacity."
Amazon is not the only tech company to scale back hiring plans lately. Inflation and a volatile market have prompted other companies, including Facebook, Salesforce, and Twitter, to freeze or slow down their hiring plans.
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